RIA Novosti on Thursday quoted Carter Page, one of Trump's foreign policy advisers during his election campaign, as saying that he has arrived in Moscow and will stay through Tuesday for talks with "influential businessmen and opinion leaders."

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters that the Kremlin had no contacts with Trump's team and has no plans to meet Page.

"We learned about it from the press," Peskov said of Page's visit, adding that he is unaware in what capacity Page will be holding meetings in Russia.

Page previously visited Moscow in July when he attended a graduation ceremony of a prestigious Moscow school. He insisted at that time, however, that he was visiting as a "private citizen." Page worked for Merrill Lynch in Moscow in the 2000s and says he has advised the Russian state natural gas monopoly Gazprom on major deals.